February: Love, Art, History

This month we have a little something for everyone. From our Adobe Illustrator tutorial on gradient mesh, two "glamour" books for Valentines -- to a whole slew of updates from the web, creative and social media -- to my annual "creative" Valentine's surf in 60-Second Windows. Hopefully, I'm going to help you ward off the winter doldrums. Along with the Valentine's piece, we'll open our Black History Month piece and share some of the most important black visual artists of our times.

60 SECONDS - CREATIVE Tidbits : Valentine's Do It Yourself

And now for something totally different . . . for this creative surf, I thought it would be fun just to snoop around and see what kind of creative projects others are doing. We found a few : * Do-It-Yourself: Quick and Easy Valentine's Projects* Cupid's Arrow Valentine Printable Cupcake Wrappers* Do It Yourself Valentines Day Wreath - Posted* Do It Yourself Pixalated Valentines Card* Valentine's Day Cards You Make Yourself* Do-it-yourself Valentine garland* Happy valentines day * Valentines shirts! * Be my Valentine ... and more ! 60 SECONDS - CREATIVE Tidbits : Valentine's Do It Yourself

Web Critique : Thumbs DOWN for Zubera classifieds

I very seldom actually pan a web site. I'm always looking for the silver lining -- or at least something good about the site. But this one just defies anything good. 171 scripts executed in a single web page ??? 283 http calls on a single web page? You've got to see this...

The Art of Boudoir Photography: How to Create Stunning Photographs of Women

FunctionFox says Small Creative Companies are Poised for Growth in 2013

A new study by FunctionFox suggests that small creative companies – design, advertising, public relations, web and marketing communications – are looking forward to a better year in 2013. 94% of small creative businesses surveyed expect to hire new employees or maintain their current staffing levels through the New Year, with the same percentage also anticipating stable or increased revenues.

5 Tips for Turning Your Blog Into a Book

Over the last decade, blogging has been steadily increasing in popularity. In fact, Nielsen/McKinsey has gone from tracking 36 million blogs, just five years ago, to tracking over 181 million blogs by the end of 2011. Many of these bloggers may be looking for a way to compile or get more out of the posts they have written, which makes turning them into a book or eBook an ideal option.

Ricoh Americas: ‘Unstructured knowledge’ is the challenge of our time

Leveraging a goldmine of untethered, unorganized information will drive organizations’ success in 2013 and beyond. Despite the power of increasingly advanced databases, the overwhelming majority of valuable business information remains adrift in the form of unstructured knowledge – any information that is not captured or easily searchable. Ricoh makes educated predictions

Marketing Update #2: Data is the New Creative

January is almost over, so we're looking forward to February marketing. Interesting they're saying that DATA is the new currency . . . here's the latest marketing update : * Don’t Ignore Direct Mail in Today’s Social Media Marketplace* Press releases with visuals boost views by nearly tenfold* Email marketing: Deliverability trends and benchmarks* The power of content in building a brand* The human touch of direct-mail marketing* What's the matter with this picture?* Data: The new creative... and moreMarketing Update #2: Data is the New Creative

Marketing Update #1: Winter tips for the wise

Happy New Year, and welcome to the ever changing landscape of marketing, with some interesting statistics, tips and tricks -- offline and on. This issue helps us get in gear for the new year ... * Lessons from the runways: What PR pros can learn from New York Fashion Week* Social Media Marketing: Don’t Forget the Message* Journalist shares 7 common PR sins to avoid* Customer service is your marketing strategy* The PR industry's high school stereotypes* 7 habits of highly successful PR people* Inside the mind of a marketer... and moreMarketing Update #1: Winter tips for the wise

Web Update for a new year . . .

Okay, here comes 2013 and a whole new year for out regular updates on Web Trends, tips and tricks just for web designers and online marketers: * Don't click here ... plus 3 more ways to avoid Web-writing woes* Best Practices for Building Your 2013 Enterprise SEO Campaign* Mobile SEO Is Not A Myth: 8 Popular Claims Refuted* Build the best relationships, err... I mean links* Why 2013 Is the Year of Responsive Web Design* Avoid high bounce rates on landing pages* Top SEO fallacies: A myth-busting rant* SEO — content, confusion, clarity.... and the continuing online world Web Update for a new year . . .

Publishing Update #2: death knell for the print industry?

Dig in and target the right market. Although ebooks now outsell print, there's still a huge and ready market . . . here's the latest publishing update: * E-books send a shiver down the spine of the publishing industry* In Digital World, Advertising Age Redesigns Print Publication* What Hollywood Can Teach You About Great Presentations* The truth about newspapers in the 21st century* Weighing the custom publishing proposition* Newspapers still have power, it seems* Why print media is still green* Ebooks Now Outsell Print Books and morePublishing Update #2: death knell for the print industry?

Publishing Update #1: 2013 Here we come

Yes, it's an all new year -- and we know that designers have to be publishers as well! But with social media eating away everyone's time you'd think there's now place for print media. Don't fool yourself . . . here's the latest publishing update: * Building the wall: Will digital subscriptions save the newspaper industry?* Newspapers report ad revenue loss for 25th quarter in a row* Newspapers join to create digital circulars on steroids* How will the January USPS postage hike impact you?* Doing print forensics brings new business* Social media marketing in print* Quit selling printingand more ... Publishing Update #1: 2013 Here we come

Online Social Media #1 for January

This Social Media update moves through January and looks at some new considerations for designers and online marketers. This media update includes: * Facebook targeted posts improve your Facebook engagement* 11-point checklist for a healthy social media strategy* 5 things more important than Facebook page engagement* 7 Tips for Creating a Social Media Plan* What's your social media strategy?* Increase your Facebook engagement.... and the continuing world of social media and networkingOnline Social Media #1 for January

Online Social Media #2: Tips and tricks to improve Facebook

Managing and growing your online, web design, social media plan, and making it go needs all the tricks you can muster. This media update includes: * 7 goals of successful community management strategy* 5 questions every social media policy must answer* The 10 Keys to Optimizing Facebook Engagement* 7 Secrets to Getting More from LinkedIn* Tips for managing multi-author blogs* 20 Tricks to Make Facebook Better .... and more from the continuing world of social media and networking Online Social Media #2: Tips and tricks to improve Facebook

Online Social Media #3: Reaching your reader

This Social Media update explores tips and tricks for utilizing social media to market brands and content. For designers and online marketers, this media update includes: * The best day of the week for brands to tweet and update Facebook* US social media ad spend to reach $9.2 billion in 2016* Optimizing Facebook engagement: The timing of posts* Young People Not Quite Ready for Twitter Primetime* The Art Of Getting More Retweets* Humanize your social media .... and more from the continuing world of social media and networking January 16, 2013Online Social Media #3: Reaching your reader

DESIGNING WOMEN

Don't forget our March and April issues feature "Designing Women" - If you're a woman in the design field we want to hear from you!

Reader Web Sites for Review

This month we have a selection of sites to review from business to personal. From stock photography sites to portfolio sites, there are readers looking for YOUR imput. One site inparticular is from a 9/11 Survivor, asking for some help : Your first impression of Home page - Is navigating the site easy? . . . So go out there and critique some sites. They all need your help so get going. Web Design & Review

&ELSE News & Views

Free stuff ... books, software, more for you

We're sending you the books from the design bookshelf, and software from the &Else review department for FREE is you would like to pay shipping and handling. Some of these items have values from $15.00 to upward and over $150. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to get an inventory drawn up -- and how to vend them out. I know many will bring lots of interest, and in most cases we have only ONE of each.

Editor's Last Words

If you haven't hugged someone recently... if you haven't said "I Love You" recently, get out there and make some calls. Don't get so tied up in your own shell that you neglect those human contacts that are so important in the health and wellbeing of your creative mind. Call your mom... sister, brother, girl friend, boy friend, spouse, children, or any special person in your life. (Or, ALL of the above!) Have lunch, take them to a movie, do something special. You'll be rewarded over and over again. For your happiest February ever, we wish you all the best.

Parting words for February ...

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands
in moments of comfort and convenience,
but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Charles Caleb Colton

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